Radio Issue

[AlexWhite]

Hi all. Radio playing up. Plays on a station for a bit, then drifts off as if looking for another frequency then usually into silence. Does it on all stations, although in truth I only use it for my usb lighter plugin gadget so that I can play MP3's over the car speakers. Anyone had these issues before? Any easy fix?

It's this one ..

https://ibb.co/g3cPB8K

[CRC]

It sounds like the voltage regulator inside the radio is on its way out. This is a well known problem with these radios and videos on how to change it are readily available online.
It's a bit fiddly to do, but ok if you're handy with a soldering iron and have some flux available.
I've done mine twice now ... part available from eBay for about £7, and the bigger the heatsink the better as it seems to be heat that takes them out.

[AlexWhite]

Thanks,  I'm no good with that stuff so will look for another solution to play some music. maybe a Bluetooth speaker or something. Any recommendations appreciated.

[CRC]

There is an auxiliary input port on the back of the radio that can be used for a Bluetooth input and works very well.
To get to it involves pulling the radio out, which is a bit fiddly and requires a longish 8 mm socket on a 1/4" extension.
Just very fiddly to find the small bolt heads.

[Lord Voltermore]

Excuse my ignorance but wouldnt any alternative that involves plugging in to  the radio unit still be affected by a dodgy voltage regulator ?  Maybe a totally independent blue tooth player  with its own speaker(s) and  powered by the cigarette lighter socket might work.But sound quality and volume may not be that great.

That said  our Amazon Echo dot  5th gen smart speaker  gives surprisingly good  sound quality in the house . Maybe not good enough  for HI Fi enthusiasts.  . But it might suffice in the car just  as a bluetooth speaker. 

They are full price at present  (£54.99)  but sometimes on offer at half price or less.  Quite expensive if it proves  inadequate in the car, unless you can then find it useful in the house.    We had one then later bought a second for upstairs.

Update. Just checked. The echo dot gen 5 needs a 12v supply. The speaker is 15watt.  Although it might still be viable, it may need to buy a  suitable power lead to connect it to the lighter socket, or indeed to hard wire it.
 On balance  its probably cheaper and may be less work  to repair the car radio.

[CRC]

When the regulator fails, it only seems to affect the radio, as the CD player still works fine.
The auxiliary port also still works, as I had fitted a small Bluetooth receiver in on top of the radio when the regulator failed again and that was still good.
When soldering the regulator in, make sure that the ground bar connection is really well soldered as I believe it uses that ground connection to the board as a heat sink.
Incidentally, the Bluetooth receiver board was £6 and as it's so small, it's in a small box velcroed to the top of the radio, so no trailing wires or extra things to find a home for, and of course, it uses the car's speakers. Really a very good upgrade for almost no money.

[AlexWhite]

If I just buy a second hand radio replacement off eBay will that do? Or are the required broken connections not in the radio itself?

[Leo]

When the regulator fails, it only seems to affect the radio, as the CD player still works fine.
The auxiliary port also still works, as I had fitted a small Bluetooth receiver in on top of the radio when the regulator failed again and that was still good.
When soldering the regulator in, make sure that the ground bar connection is really well soldered as I believe it uses that ground connection to the board as a heat sink.
Incidentally, the Bluetooth receiver board was £6 and as it's so small, it's in a small box velcroed to the top of the radio, so no trailing wires or extra things to find a home for, and of course, it uses the car's speakers. Really a very good upgrade for almost no money.

Greetings CRC;

I have seen your replies in more than one radio related topics; thus I would like to ask for your input.

My battery killed my alternator previously and I had to change both of them. Everything seemed to function well. I was using a cigarette lighter powered BT FM transmitter and I am unable to project my phone's audio. My radio turns on; but cant change the channel/no BT connection. I am afraid that this is the same problem.you had mentioned here. However I am not good at soldering nor I have the tools.

My question; is there a solution for this that does not require soldering? You mentioned pairing a BT reciever with the radio's aux cable.How would that look like in practice? Thank you very much for your help

[CRC]

To answer a couple of questions.

The voltage regulator is on the main board of the radio, which requires complete disassembly of the radio, removal of the cd drive etc. to enable the board to come out for access to the regulator.

For the Bluetooth,  I bought a small 12 volt to 5 volt regulating circuit board and a 5volt Bluetooth circuit board, connected them together with soldered wires and mounted them in a plastic box that used to hold a puncture repair kit for a push bike.
The plug that fits into the aux port is the same plug that is used on old cd ROM drives in PCs for the audio connection, though one of the wires does need to be swapped. You can also use a jumper from an old hard drive to connect together two pins on the aux port.
I spliced the 12 volt supply and ground into the cores that feed the radio so the Bluetooth powers up when the radio is on, then I just used a velcro sticky pad to stick the box onto the top of the radio so that it could be removed easily if the radio had to come out again.

The two boards cost around £7 in total from a supplier on eBay, and I can probably post links if of interest.
It works superbly well for such a low cost modification.